An aquatic environment provides mosquitoes with a place to lay eggs, grow and develop through their egg, larvae and pupal stages. Mosquitoes prefer stagnant water as a locus to lay their eggs. They commonly infest small bodies of water including ponds, stagnant creek areas, marshes, drain ditches, swamps and other wetland habitats. Many species of mosquitoes use containers of water as egg-deposit sites. Adults emerge from pupal cells, fly, rest then feed, mate, lay eggs, and may feed again (depending on group); oviposition is part of the airborne portion of their lifecycle. Water habitat is an excellent locus because that is where the larvae must reside, and certain insecticides kill the larvae and pupae, not the adults.
An insecticide needs to be at a certain concentration in a water column to maintain efficacy and prevent or retard mosquito larvae emergence. However, some insecticides are unstable in aqueous medium and may degrade in water. If the formulation requires a controlled release of the insecticide, it is possible that the insecticide can retain its potency and stability for a longer period of time.
There is a need in the art for new formulations that have long-lasting efficacy. Further, there is a need for formulations that slowly release an insecticide, and thus increase the insecticide's chemical stability in water. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.